I recently wrote about my own heat experience being in the Army many years ago. This last heat wave came on a weekend when I was finally free from gardening and other work duties and I was thinking that perhaps I could finally go golfing in 2021. But then, with temperatures soaring into the 100s, I thought the better part of valor and golf was to stay home in the air conditioning.
British Columbia had higher temperatures (even thought they are further north) and many more deaths. This is a quote from the article below: “Lisa Lapointe, British Columbia’s chief coroner, said 486 deaths had been reported there between Friday and Wednesday afternoon — a period in which about 165 deaths would normally be documented. Deaths were expected to increase, she said.”
More details are below in the linked article, but all of this is a reminder that a heat wave can go on for weeks and not just three to four days like this last one in the Pacific Northwest. A good book for all public health staff, emergency responders, and emergency managers to read is Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.
Look at what the city of Chicago did and the extraordinary measures they took to look out for their vulnerable populations, especially the elderly. This only happened once the scope of the unfolding disaster became known.
